Sunday, April 29, 2012

Created an illustration for this weeks Illustration Friday's word. The word selected was "Jump". This is a great way to keep the creative process active by challenging one's self to a weekly activity. My main ideawas to depict a young girl jumping like a frog.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

The New England School of Art & Design at Suffolk University has a small fabulous illustration exhibit that is wortha visit. Many of the exhibitors are still around and well known such as Bob Ostrom, Prescott Hill and many more. Itsounds like the NESAD is beginning an illustration department at the school and celebrating the work of past alumnus.

I enjoyed what I saw and always excited to view original illustrations. Some of the illustrators I especially enjoyed were

Joe Farnham's "The Wind-Up" (a) a delightful and amusing cartoon illustration created with water color and color pencil.

You can feel the amusing tension as he depicts the pitcher's attempt to throw the ball to the catcher.

I found Bruce Ozella's "Popeye"(c), for Features syndicate lots of fun because of his cartoon style and bright colors. Who cannot like "Popeye" and his friends? This was illustration was created with brush and ink.

Another illustration that caught my eye was created by Gary Destramp"Cafe"(b). A bold and colorful graphic art piecethat depicts shapes with bold black lines and bright watercolors. He has his own way of depicting a cafe from hisimagination.

There are many more illustrators I haven't mentioned and don't mean to slight. If you have the time and visiting the Boston area I strongly suggest that you move your body over to 75 Arlington St., Boston, Ma and enjoy this stunning illustration exhibit. For more information go towww.suffolk.edu/nesad/gallery

Monday, April 16, 2012

I was hoping to finish my Easter illustration for the holiday but it was not to be. Decided to finish the color sketch and post anyway. Maybe I will finish this illustration before next Easter. No time for a finish piece now, because Cinco De Mayo is almost here and I would rather create an illustration for one of my favorite days.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Purchasing my first smartphone and discarding my RadioShack landline was an exciting change for me. My Samsung smartphone has more features than my landline ever had. I am still evaluating the differences and offer my observations.

I will miss the quality and tone that my landline has when I was speaking with friends or clients. It is true that the vehicles used by the landline and smartphone are totally different. My landline uses telephone wires while my smartphone uses signals sent out from phone towers. My landline was low maintenance meaning all I had to do was place it on it's base in the corner and that was about it. I am now developing an attitude requiring me to constantly recharge the smartphone. Using my landline I discovered I shouldn't be very close to operating microwave ovens or a fair distance from the handset base because the sound quality does fade. Smartphones have either poor signals or dropped calls.

My RadioShack landline had other features that it offered but I didn't find a use for. The landline does have an extension placement feature allowing me to place accessory handsets up to four in total anywhere I had an AC outlet, regardless of phone jack location. Having an extra handset I could perform three-way conference intercom calls between handsets even while the third handset was on the outside line, monitor the room where the other handset was placed and using the landline as a pair of walkie-talkies. This is similar in making multi-party calls with my smartphone.

The smartphone is a totally new ballgame adding features my landline doesn't have when communicating with the outside world. When I dial a number on my Samsung smartphone keypad I will see three-on-screen options. I can call the entered number, delete digits from the current number or access the phone's voicemail system. I can pause dialing or save phone numbers with pauses for use with automated systems such as voicemail or business phone numbers. Wait dialing is another feature that can be used in the dialing sequence. This means that the telephone waits until it hears a dial tone before proceeding with the next sequence of numbers. My smartphone can redial stored numbers of calls dialed, received, or missed if the caller is identified. Speed dialing is a similar feature that my landline and smartphone offer. I love this feature quickly dialing friends or clients.

My smartphone offers features such as adjusting the volume, placing a call on hold, turning the speakerphone on and off, muting a call or setting up a multi-party call. Multi-party calling is similar to my landline making it possible to configure my smartphone for multi-party calls allowing up to six people to participate in a multi-party or conference call.

My t-mobile sevice makes it possible to use Wi-Fi with my smartphone. My Verizon landline certainly did not offer this feature. This is an excellent solution for coverage issues in and around my home or wherever cellular coverage is limited. Texting is an option landlines never offered and my smartphone takes advantage of. My Samsung smartphone has a Qwerty on-screen keypad. Using the swype method is so fast because rather than typing individual letters or numbers you swype your finger across the keypad to create individual words. Very cool. Learning to type on a smartphone keypad takes some practice because of the size of the Qwery keypad. I was trained in the proper way to type on a typewriter but the letters and numbers placement on a Qwerty keypad are different.

The technology on a smartphone enables you to communicate in a variety of ways that is not possible on my landline. Comcast does offer a landline setup but you need to be connected to their internet service. I am now able to text message with my smartphone with all sorts of attachments. Multimedia messages makes it possible to send and receive messages(such as pictures, video, and audio messages) to and from other mobile phones or e-mail addresses.

The last feature that alters my telephone calling is the smartphone's direct connection to the internet. This is an amazing feature my landline never had. Of course, the technology was not in place for my landline to take advantage of. Some landline packages are starting to offer these features but the smartphone still has the convenience of size. I am able to connect to the internet with a number of browsers and configure my email to my web host. I can login to my news updates on MSNBC or view movies from Hulu. Check out my social media contacts or read what is happening in the illustration field. My smartphone or small computer keeps me up-to-date with friends and contacts. I don't know where this telephone technology is going but I do enjoy the features part of my smartphone.

Let me know what you think about all this and how it affects you. What do you like about this technology or dislike? Send me a response.